The opportunity for building professionals to make a difference has
never been greater, as public awareness has spread from individual home
sales to code setting bodies, mayors’ offices and even to the halls of
Congress. If you’re an advocate in search of a
member-based national organization that is committed to a sustainable
future in the built environment, you’ve come to the right place. At
Green Builder® Coalition, our members range from pioneers of green
building to newcomers who want to learn from them.

You Should Join the Green Builder® Coalition if you:

• Desire to become part of the green building community,

• Are already (and want to help others become) a member of the green building community,

• Have noticed how much better green builders are weathering this downturn, or

• Think often about the future for your children or grandchildren.

Our advocacy mission is to support a sustainable built environment that benefits future generations by:

• Offering Solutions, Not Excuses. Shaping our Coalition
into a single, credible voice whose messages and individual success
stories resonate with decision makers, the media, the public and other
stakeholders.

• Giving Our Members an Easily Accessible Platform to Express Their Views.
Arming our members with the means to influence public policies and
encouraging their outreach to media, government officials, academia and
other key policymakers.

• Reaching Beyond to Positively Influence Public Policy.
Seeking out and working closely with allied organizations sharing the
mission of reducing the environmental footprint of America’s building
sector.

Our advocacy priorities are selected by our members.
If you think about the vast ocean of public policy, it’s easy to
imagine how quickly an advocacy organization’s message can become
diluted by the sheer number of “top priorities” or how quickly its
welcome from policymakers wears thin. Green Builder® Coalition’s
Advocacy will focus on a small number of “deep dives” into advocacy
issues of greatest priority to green building professionals.

Past Actions

Inaugural International Green Construction Code

As
it currently stands, the International Green Construction Code (IgCC)
has the minimum certifiable level of the National Green Building
Standard as its low-rise residential provision, with the exception of
the energy portion, which must meet the 2012 IECC. This standard, and
training for it, is largely controlled by NAHB. How we got to this point
is
a convoluted and confusing tale that began in 2009.

As a result of this effort, a group including two charter members and one staff member of the Green Builder®
Coalition, a
representative from the USGBC, three building code officials and a representative from MC2 Mathis Consulting Group co-authored a non-proprietary, green, low-rise residential code. A representative from the Southern Nevada Water
Authority provided technical support, and our effort also received technical
support from two ICC staff members. Any jurisdiction and/or state can use this to set a sustainable floor for construction in their area. It can be downloaded free of charge here.

At the request of one of our members, co-founders Ron Jones and Mike
Collignon paid a visit to the Triangle Area of North Carolina. For
years, one of our members has been diligent in his pursuit of higher
energy efficiency levels in housing. The Green Builder® Coalition, with
our member's assistance, was able to spend 45 minutes with the
Governor's senior staff member.

On June 8, 2011, a bill (S708-CSRO-20) was heard in the North Carolina
state Senate Commerce Committee that would (on average) increase the
energy efficiency of residential and commercial buildings by 15% and
30%, respectively. This bill passed, and on the morning of Friday, June
24th, Governor Perdue signed it. This means the bill became law on
January 1, 2012. There is a built-in 3-month transition period, so the
law really didn’t become mandatory until March 1, 2012.

Many other groups were involved in supporting its passage, and that list can be found on the following page:

Executive Director Mike Collignon and Advocacy Director Bill
Fay attended the International Energy Conservation Code – Residential (IECC-R)
final action hearings in early October 2013. Based on the guidance of our
membership, the Green Builder® Coalition took a stance on the following proposals
at the ICC Final Action Hearings. Accompanying those positions are the
voting results:

Member Position

Hearing Result

RE166 (Mech. Equip. Tradeoff)

Oppose

Disapproved

RE186 (Builder Flex Points)

Support

Disapproved

RE188 (ERI proposal)

Support

Approved

RB190 (Reinforced masonry foundations
in zone A)

Support

Disapproved

A candid
recap of the RE166 and RE188 debates, authored by Bill Fay and Mike Collignon, can be found here.

Action Alerts

The SAVE Act

The Sensible Accounting to Value Energy (SAVE) Act has been reintroduced into the U.S. Senate by co-sponsors Sen. Bennet (D-CO) & Sen. Isakson (R-GA).

Here are the main differences between the 1st version of the SAVE Act and the current version:

Home energy reports are now voluntary, not mandatory.

An advisory committee will be created to offer recommendations to HUD as they draft rules for implementation.

The Green Builder Coalition has long been a supporter of this much-needed update to the HUD underwriting guidelines. While the current version won't have the sweeping effect the original would
have, we still support the swift passage of the SAVE Act.